Workers load sacks of Balamrutham packets, a highly nutritious food for children, into a Defence Ministry cargo plane at the Begumpet airport on Saturday. Telangana shipped the food packets for distribution in flood hit Kerala.

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Government, continuing its efforts to help flood-stricken Kerala, on Saturday said it will be sending 20 tonnes of milk powder to that State.

Announcing this here, Animal Husbandary Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav said the milk powder is being sent following instructions of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to send the material to Kerala immediately.

It may be recalled that Telangana State has already extended a Rs 25 crore assistance in cash and on Friday, shipped to Kerala packets totalling 100 tonnes of ‘balamrutham’, a highly nutritious food mixture for children. The material was taken to Kerala aboard a special cargo aircraft of the Defence Ministry from the Begumpet airport.

Pensioners announce Rs 2.5 cr for Kerala

TGPJAC secretary general T Subhaker Rao met Finance Minister Etela Rajender and gave a letter of consent in this regard. Speaking on the occasion, the committee members said each pensioner would contribute Rs 100 from the August’s pension, and the money would be transferred to Telangana CMRF.

“This is the worst flood in the history of Kerala and several villages remained cutoff,” Subhaker Rao said, adding that based on the call by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday, they had come forward to help Keralites.

There are 2.56 lakh pensioners in the State. The JAC held an emergency executive committee meeting on Saturday under the chairmanship of K Laxmaiah, chairman of the JAC of 23 pensioners associations.

Kerala part of our success story: UAE V-P

Riyadh: A large number of Keralites living in the Gulf have been struggling to get in touch with their families back home in flood-hit Kerala.

The flood wreaked havoc in the State in the past few weeks, dampening the festive spirits of Eid Al Adha, Onam. Even marriage plans of many expatriates were hit.

The Kochi airport remained closed for 10 days and airlines are trying to reschedule their flights to nearby airports. In the hour of need, the Gulf countries have come forward to help Kerala. The NRIs from Kerala constitutes a large proportion of the workforce in the Gulf. The UAE Vice-President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in a series of tweets commented on the devastating floods in Kerala.

Sheikh Mohammed’s tweets were in Malayalam, besides in English, has reflected the importance of Malayalis in the Gulf. He added that “The people of Kerala have always been and are still part of our success story in the UAE. We have a special responsibility to help and support those affected, especially during this holy and blessed days.”

The Dubai Ruler said in series of tweets that a committee had been formed to immediately offer relief to those affected. “The state of Kerala in India is currently witnessing huge floods, the most devastating in a century. Hundreds have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Ahead of Eid Al Adha, do not forget to extend a helping hand to our brothers in India,” he tweeted.

President of UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ordered the formation of an emergency committee which will be headed by Sheikh Mohammed, to look into providing relief assistance to people affected by floods in Kerala.

The committee will have local Gulf representatives and also include representatives from the UAE’s humanitarian organisations. It will also seek the help of the Indians in the UAE, according to the State news agency.

Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi donated Rs 4 crore to help Kerala on Saturday. Every third house in Kerala has a man working in the Gulf.